Spider-Man Musical Must Sell Out For Four Years Before Seeing a Profit

The Times‘ Economix blog does some acrobatic arithmetic to estimate, in the absolute best-case scenario, how much money the new Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark Broadway musical will need to make on a weekly basis, and for how long, before its initial investment of $65 million is recouped. The answer: 207.3 weeks, or about four years. And that’s assuming seats are filled at Lion King-levels (another Julie Taymor production), and going for Wicked prices—two of the consistently highest-grossing shows on Broadway. What the writer, Catherine Rampell, fails to factor into her equation are all the lawsuits and added insurance costs from all those on–setinjuries. (photo: Jacob Cohl)